Rush Sees Gains, But Few Agree

Black Leaders Dispute Claim To New Respect

For three months, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush said Tuesday's mayoral election was more than just an issue of winning and losing, it was about gaining respect.

After conceding the race to incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley, Rush said he had accomplished that goal.

"I think (Daley) respects me," Rush said. "I've earned his respect and, in fact, he has earned my respect. In order to be a leader, in order to be a public official, you've got to have respect from everyone."

So what's next for Rush? Some leaders in the African-American community question whether the congressman gained any respect or ground as a political leader. And despite running a campaign on a movement aimed at achieving "fairness, justice and equality," some suggest he didn't fill the political vacuum in an already eroded black power base.

"The reality is there is no black power structure anymore in Chicago and that was proved (Tuesday) by the enormous vote for Daley," said community activist Lu Palmer. He also cited the re-election of Ald. Thomas Murphy, a white incumbent in the 18th Ward, which was recently redrawn to reflect a predominantly African-American population. "It's worse now than it was before the first Harold Washington election," Palmer said, referring to the election of the city's first black mayor in 1983.

Palmer said the prospect of anyone replacing Daley as mayor seems slim in light of his landslide victory Tuesday.

He said Washington won in 1983 and 1987 because minorities and the disenfranchised saw his campaigns as a political cause.

"There was that motivation," Palmer said. "You know the expression about an idea whose time has come and gone. Well, that time came and we capitalized on it. That time cannot come again."

Rush's claims of small victories during the campaign by bringing issues such as public transportation, police brutality and small business development to the table were challenged by Eddie Read, another community activist and Rush supporter.

"Running and being the sacrifical lamb, in all due respect to my brother, Bobby, is not a victory," said Read, founder of the United Independent Workers International Union.

Rush, who was swamped by Daley in campaign fundraising as well as by the vote totals Tuesday, decried the lack of support he received from black business leaders he said were motivated by self-interest.

"There are businesspeople in this city, who are successful in this city, who have aligned themselves as part of the Daley machine," Rush said.

Rush called Tuesday's election a building block, without saying that meant he will make another run at mayor in four years. Some political observers speculate that Rush's fellow Democratic congressman from Illinois, Jesse Jackson Jr., a rising star on Capitol Hill with strong name recognition, could be a much more viable candidate in 2003.

The vanquished challenger said he is not interested in a role of political power broker in the black community or otherwise.

For now, Rush said he will resume his duties in Congress, focusing on shoring up Social Security and Medicare and pushing for a bill that will, among other things, provide loans to encourage the growth of small businesses. The latter concept was a plank in his mayoral economic development platform.

"What I intend to do is, when it's necessary, speak out on the issues that I think need to be addressed," Rush said.

"I don't intend to try to create any kind of machinery myself. I just plan to continue to work hard over the next several years to be who I am and to continue to do the kind of work I have done all my life."